Rapid-Fire Interrupting
Rapid Fire Interrupting is when-
Rapid Fire Interrupting refers to those moments when a character keeps interrupting another one while speaking, without letting them utter a single sentence.
Umm... thanks Alice. Naturally thi-
As you can expect, whoever is getting interrupted will insist on trying to speak, only to get constantly stopped by the other one. Angrish is to be expected if they get the opportunity to speak after the long breaking-in streak.
This usually mea-
This can happen either becuase the one interrupting is so angry he/she won't let the other talk, knows that he or she is more knowledgeable in the topic than the other, knows that the other is going to say something incredibly stupid, or just wants to get them angry.
Though it doesn-
The interrupting doesn't necessarily need to come from another person though, a Loudspeaker Truck or something to that effect showing up regularily can do the job just fine.
It's related to-
Compare Mamet Speak (in which both sides interrupt each other in quick sucession), Conjunction Interruption, Speech Bubbles Interruption, Preemptive "Shut Up" and Silence, You Fool.
*grumble*
Is there something wrong Bob?
GAH! Just... forget it!
Advertising
- The Cheez-its commercial with the "interrupting cheese" joke. The idea of all the ads is waiting for the cheese to mature, and there are always cheeses doing childish 'immature' things. This one has the cheese doing a knock knock joke about 'interrupting cheese' and then interrupting the guy's reply question.
- This anti-drug PSA has a father asking his kid who taught him to do drugs (It was the father himself, teaching by example).
Dad: Where did you get it?
Son: Dad I --
Dad: Answer me.
Anime and Manga
- Happens to Jounouchi in Yu-Gi-Oh as he tries to congratulate Yugi for beating Pegasus.
Comic Strip
- A Dilbert comic introduced "the Sentence Finisher", who would constantly interrupt people to finish their sentences for them:
Dilbert: You're finishing all my sentences with -
Sentence Finisher: - uncanny accuracy?
Film - Animation
- In The Princess and the Frog, Charlotte asks Big Daddy to tell Tiana the big news about Prince Naveen being a guest in their house, but she is so excited that she keeps blurting it out before Big Daddy can get a word in. She also keeps him from enjoing the beignets he ordered.
Film - Live Action
- Dr. Evil does this to his son Scott in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Scott is trying to convince Dr. Evil to let him shoot Austin and Vanessa Kensington instead of leaving them in a Death Trap.
Scott: It's no hassle...
Dr. Evil: Shhh!
Scott: But...
Dr. Evil: Shhh!
Scott: All I'm saying...
Dr. Evil: Shhh!
Scott: They're gonna get awa...
Dr. Evil: Shhh! [snip]
Scott: Look...
Dr. Evil: Shhh!
- His Girl Friday is famous for this. To pack in more dialogue and allow to be interrupted without the audience missing anything essential that the characters were saying, superfluous words were added to the beginning and end of the sentences, so if you missed what the characters were saying when they talked at the same time, you could still follow the story.
- The Muppets has a scene where Kermit is trying to explain to Gonzo what's going on, but Fozzie keeps interrupting with suggestions about what he should say.
Literature
- Happens repeatedly in the Dragaera novel Dragon, when Vlad awakens in Castle Black after he's been beaten up. Even his complaint about how no one's letting him complete a sentence is interrupted.
Live Action TV
- Monk: In "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan", Monk is attempting to talk to Stottlemeyer, but a jackhammer keeps interrupting. At one point, Monk even attempts to perform a fake-out, but the jackhammer doesn't start. Then Monk attempts to speak again...at which point the jackhammer begins making noise.
- Arrested Development:
Michael: It's like we finish each other's...
Lindsay: Sandwiches?
Michael: Sentences. Why would I say...
Lindsay: Sandwiches.
Michael: That time, I was going to say sandwiches.
- Happens a lot in Mock the Week, particularly to Ed Byrne
Ed Byrne: (to Dara) Now that it's just me and you I probably still can't get a word in.
- A common element in sketches performed by the comedy team of Jack Burns and Avery Schreiber in their 1970s TV series The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour. Burns frequently played a character which would drive Schreiber's more easygoing characters batty with his escalating interruptions demanding agreement on one point or another.
Recorded and Stand Up Comedy
- This was a frequent element of Jack Burns' stand-up routines, particularly when he partnered with Avery Schreiber.
Theatre
- Happens a lot in the work of David Mamet, but especially in Oleanna, where Carol barely gets to finish a sentence in Act I.
Video Games
- In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater this happens between 2 members of Snake's Mission Control, specifically between Sigint and Para-Medic, when discussing life medicine.
- In one of the 'previews' in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Captain Gordon, DEFENDER OF EARTH! interrupts Etna's speech so many times, that in the end, out of annoyance, Etna proceeds to beat up, shoot and overall brutalize the guy.
- Happens in a skit in Tales of Graces. Asbel is asking Sophie questions about her Protos Heis abilities. Sophie keeps trying to answer, only to have Emeraude interrupt her (and at one point Asbel himself) to answer the questions herself.
- Also played for laughs in another skit. Pascal tries to figure out the purpose of some cryas stones, but as she figures it out and is about to give her guess, Lambda interrupts and gives the answer himself. When Pascal asks for clarification on one aspect, Lambda answers, "Figure it out yourself." Pascal takes him up on that and thinks for a moment before coming up with an answer... only to once again be interrupted by Lambda revealing the answer anyway, much to Pascal's annoyance.
Malik: Lambda is kind of a jerk.
Web Comics
- Hiimdaisy: Snake does this to Meryl in Let's Destroy Metal Gear! as she's asking him about his personal life
Meryl: Hoobies?
Snake: Shut up!
Meryl: Any family?
Snake: Shut up!
Meryl: Anyone y-
Snake: SHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUPSHUTUP!!
- Schlock Mercenary when Ennesby is angryspoiler!.
Naiayemeiwa: Oh. Is that why you keep inter-
Ennesby: YES.
Western Animation
- This happens to Aquaman in the Batman the Brave And The Bold episode "Bold Beginnings!" as he repeatedly tries to tell the story of how he first met Batman.
- One episode of The Simpsons is set in the future where Maggie is a teenager. Every single time she's about to speak, she's interrupted by something.
- Jack Burns' character Ralph on Wait Till Your Father Gets Home frequently used the same rapid-fire interruption seen in Burns' stand-up and TV performances.